In another sign that housing is starting to (slowly) recover, it was reported that housing starts hit an annual rate of 760,000 units in June, up from 535,000 in June 2011. “But the low level also shows that we have far to go,” said IHS Global Insight economists Patrick Newport and Michelle Valverde. “If conditions were normal, the economy would need to put up at least 1.5 million units a year to meet demand coming from housing’s three main drivers — household formation, demand for second homes and replacement demand. We are not expecting 1.5 million gains until 2015.”